


love&live

by triplebaka



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Fluff, Mild Language, Mutual Pining, Other, Pining, Post-Calamity Ganon, Rating May Change, Reader-Insert, Slow Burn, Title Subject to Change, doesn't follow a plot just a premise, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2020-03-20 19:42:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18999238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/triplebaka/pseuds/triplebaka
Summary: You and Link are traveling around Hyrule with a purpose. Along the way, each of you wants the other to open up, but your natures won't be allowing that to happen anytime soon. Whose defenses will cave in first, if at all? And what happens when they do?





	1. let me in

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fanfic, so feedback is always v much appreciated. 
> 
> the story and chapter titles are the names of songs and albums from a group i like :) it's not a songfic tho
> 
> As a heads up, the new chapters I post are usually unfinished, so i edit and add on to them before I move on to the next one. i also go back and change small things occasionally. 
> 
> enjoy!

He was the kind of person who you had grown comfortable sitting in silence with for hours on end, and that was quite rare for you. 

Sure, you went without talking around most people anyways, but that didn't mean it was pleasant. You just didn't have much to say to people not very close to you. Or rather, didn't feel like much was worth saying to them, especially about yourself. 

With Link, though, not only did you feel at ease being quiet with him, but you also felt free to be as talkative as you liked. On occasions where you had the desire to prattle on about this and that and the other, he was always there to lend an ear to whatever it was you felt like monologuing about. He was a pretty good listener, even if he didn't show it in a conventional manner, and you liked that he gave you plenty of room to get everything off your mind that you wanted to say. A lot of times with other people, you kind of felt as though you never had the opportunity to express everything that you wanted to. Link, thank Hylia, gave you a break from that feeling. That might have been a big reason why you grew so fond of him. Someone allowing you to speak your mind without interruption, and listening all the while, was something you were so unused to that when you found this quality in Link, you warmed up to him much more for treating you differently than all the rest had.

That's not to say it didn't take a while for you to get like that, though. It took a lot of time and very subtle prodding on his end for you to open up about anything regarding yourself. 

You didn't know why you were so protective and clammed up. It was just what came naturally to you. At first, it wasn't noticeable to Link how closed off you really were until he realized that despite all the time you spent together, despite how often you would ramble on to him about seemingly trivial matters, he barely knew anything about you other than what you had allowed him to know. He didn't know any of your fears, aspirations, past experiences, ideals -- none of it. And when he realized that, he found himself empathizing with you in a way he hadn't before. That very fear of exposing yourself to others was a trait he possessed in himself, and only upon recognizing it in another person did he see how alienating it could be to go about your relationships with people in that way. It was a feeling he knew all too well. He didn't know what exactly fostered this behavior in you, or how you became like this; but he knew enough from personal experience to tell that at its core, it was a result of fear. A defense mechanism. And that was when he decided he would make an effort to let you know that around him, there was nothing to be afraid of. 

Before, he would only make simple gestures to indicate he was listening, like a nod or a slight change in facial expression as a response to whatever it was you were saying. He was fully aware that it could often appear as though he was a brick wall to the person talking to him. It's not that he did it on purpose; it was just his nature. He didn't know of any other way to act. Thankfully, you didn't seem to mind that much, and had become used to his outwardly reserved demeanor. Still, he knew that if he wanted to get you to feel more open towards him, he would have to become a bit more involved.

He gradually started becoming more responsive, putting more variety into his interactions with you. In an attempt to get more conversation out of you, he began showing you things he thought might spark your interest: pictures he had taken on the shiekah slate, pointing your attention towards scenic views, even giving you a wildflower or two now and then. His actions didn't go unnoticed by you. The latter of those gestures in particular made you feel especially warm on the inside. Honestly, you had no idea how to appropriately express your appreciation. You had secretly worried a little that you'd never get through to him; that he would go on acting towards you like he did to most strangers; that his shell would forever be unbreakable. It was a relief to dispell those worries after seeing these small changes in him as an indication that you were both becoming more accustomed to each other.

Although his efforts did make a difference, they still weren't enough to fully get you out of your cocoon. It's worth mentioning that what Link was trying to do was far out of his own comfort zone as well. He couldn't even explain to himself why he was going to such lengths for someone in this manner. He wasn't sure what it was about you that piqued his interest so much to the point where he was going out of his way to try and know you better. Hell, he even surprised himself. Link had never before made these sorts of endeavors for another person. To think that of all people to be on the receiving end of this, a traveling wildlife researcher employed by the castle wasn't who he had foreseen it to be. He didn't let himself give it too much thought, though. Link never was the most introspective type of guy, after all. He was supposed to be accompanying you throughout Hyrule as you gathered information, and he didn't try to chalk it up to anything more than that.

Likewise, you hadn't expected to wish for a kind of bond with him different from any you'd had before. Once he started showing interest in your research findings, you knew you were a goner. You tried to stave it off; you really did! But who could blame you for becoming enamored when after years of doing all your scholarly work in solitude, you get assigned to a gentlemanly knight tasked with escorting you around the areas of Hyrule relevant to your research? Not only was this assignment one of the biggest of your life -- I mean, it wasn't every day that you were tasked with analyzing the farthest reaches of the continent to record the changes in the environment after the 100 years that the calamity first occured. 

Needless to say, you were dumbstruck by the magnitude of the task, and it didn't help that this particular knight you were supposed to be sharing the journey with was so pretty it felt like you could stare at him for hours. You tried your best to quell your initial reaction to his good looks, and for a while, you did a pretty good job of it. But once he began helping you with your field work without being asked, and providing useful insight from the knowledge he'd gained on his own travels, it became a little harder to do so. Now, not only did you have his cuteness to worry about, but you discovered that he was kind enough to be willing to do more than what was listed in his job description to assist you, and that was a problem. It wasn't that you didn't enjoy the help; it was the exact opposite, in fact. You'd never had a field assistant before, and as Link was the closest you ever got to having one, you found it all kinds of helpful to have an extra set of hands to do some of the heavier legwork. 

No; the real problem lied with the feelings growing from the gratitude you felt for how he demonstrated his eagerness to get involved with your life's passion, how he actually shared your interest to an extent, and how he didn't make you feel like holding back when talking about it. He actually... understood. It was an experience entirely new to you. Never before had someone shown such intrigue regarding the things you held most important, and it made your budding emotions all the more unavoidable. 

You came to the conclusion that since you had been put up to this task by Princess Zelda herself, Link was probably helping so much as a result of a his shared duty to her. Still, it didn't change too much of how you felt about it, and this was only something you told yourself when you caught your mind wandering towards thoughts you deemed too hopeful and idealistic, as a way of keeping those emotions in check. Seeing as this happened more often than you'd have liked, though, it was becoming increasingly clear that those personal reminders weren't working to shove those feelings away as well as you had wanted.

***

Link had been pondering over a few questions he wanted to ask you for some time after he resolved to try and know more about you. Every time the thought of asking anything of a more personal nature crossed his mind, though, he dismissed it by busying himself with any other menial task he could find to attend to. He didn't realize he was actively avoiding it until about the 15th time this had happened, in which he noticed there was probably a pattern going on here. It was kind of funny, in a bit of an ironic way. It seemed that he was just as apprehensive about getting you to open up as you were about actually opening up. No surprise there. But finally, once he was made conscious of his avoidance, he finally decided to just get out with it. It shouldn't have been that big of a deal, really. Most people would consider it meager small talk. Too bad he was never the most talented in that particular field.

So he asked you, while you were both on horseback on the way to a stable to rest for the night, where previously the air had been filled only with the sound of nature's ambience. 

"What do you plan to do after your research here is over?"

There was no specific reason he chose to ask this question in particular. It was just one of the few that came to mind when he thought about things he didn't know about you. He truly was genuinely curious, though. He didn't have the slightest hint as to what your response might possibly be. You hadn't allowed any room for speculation, as you kept any and all personal details of relevancy under lockdown.

You turned to see his head turned slightly towards you, a blank expression on his face, his eyes looking at yours, waiting for an answer.

You were slightly taken aback by this query that, to you, came out of nowhere. It was quite unexpected of him, to say the least. Not that it mattered. You were quick to dismiss your surprise, and instead started thinking... what the hell were you supposed to _say_ to that?

You turned to look forward again, hoping how dumbfounded you felt didn't show on your facial expression. Try as you might, no amount of racking your brain was proving useful in supplying a safe answer -- and suddenly, you became hyperaware that you were probably taking longer than was normal to respond to what should have been a simple question. At this point, you had already hit the panic button inside your head, which led you to scramble and say the only thing on your mind.

A shaky "Umm..." was all you could manage to let escape your lips. Talk about suave, huh?

Link was still staring at you with that same blank expression on his face. Slowly, a faint doubt began to creep into his thoughts. He wondered if doing that was the right decision. Maybe he should have waited until you were ready to reveal those types of things to others, instead of trying to squeeze it out of you. He thought about perhaps dropping the endeavor altogether if you really insisted on keeping people so shut out; that it might have been for the better. 

That was, until you replied. It seemed you'd finally come up with something you considered sufficient enough to say. His pointed ears listened intently.

"...After my research is over, huh? It's funny you ask that, actually. I don't think I'll ever get to a point where my research is actually over. After all, the more we know only sheds light on how much more there is that we don't." 

It really was funny, he thought. He felt that last statement applied perfectly to his situation with you. Especially with so cryptic an answer? Oh, this was going to be just as much of a challenge as he'd expected. 

It looked like you two were only a short ways away from the stable now. The vast night sky displayed the stars with unobstructed clarity, and as he looked in the direction of your gaze he could see the navy color of the heavens reflected in your spacey stare.

He mentally sighed, and replied with a simple "Ah." He honestly had no idea where to go with it past that. Even still, though, once Link set his sights on accomplishing something, there was no stopping him until he achieved his goal. This, too, would prove to be no different. At least, he hoped. 


	2. D-1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and now i present to u food network botw edition 😎 
> 
> as always, I'd appreciate any comments a whole lot!

When you arrived at the stable and put away your horses for the night, Link immediately made a beeline for the cooking pot, as expected. He began rummaging through his bag, taking out ingredients and putting them back, examining them to decide what best to prepare. 

"So, what's on the menu for tonight?" you asked.

He paused from sifting through the bag to look up at you, holding various ingredients in his hands. "How do rice balls sound?"

"Ah, it's almost as if you read my mind!"

You sat on one of the stools by the pot, looking on as he tended to the meal he was preparing. 

He always got so absorbed when he went into his chef mode. You would never in a million years admit this to anyone, but you found it insanely adorable. He would often hum to himself when he got really into it, and you hated how ridiculously endearing it was. When he completed a recipe particularly well, he would give a small chuckle of excitement for a job well done, and it sent your heart soaring through the roof every time you witnessed it. Many of his most "extreme" displays of enthusiasm were made while cooking, so it was always a pleasure to watch him in the process. You would often stare without realizing, which thankfully never became a problem, because he never seemed to realize it himself. 

It was honestly really sweet of him to do most of the food prep for the both of you. He actually insisted on doing it, in fact. Whenever you tried to offer helping him out, he just waved you away, assuring you that it was fine, that he actually preferred to take care of it himself. It did perplex you a bit, but you couldn't really complain. After all, he was a pretty good cook, and knew a lot of recipes on-hand. The only time you could do the job instead of him was when you beat him to the cooking pot, which overall was less times than you could count on both hands. 

When Link was finished making dinner, he handed you your portion of the food, which you thanked him for. You held a rice ball up to your face. It was fresh and warm, and smelled absolutely delectable. They weren't anything too fancy, with the center only being stuffed with boar's meat, but you preferred a simple meat and rice dish most of the time anyways. It made you kind of nostalgic, somehow. You took a bite, and as your taste buds were once again graced with the gift that was Link's cooking, you thought to yourself how lucky you were to be blessed with having such a great chef as your travel companion. You could definitely get used to this.

You looked over to where Link was sitting. One other thing he did with enthusiasm other than cooking was, of course, eating. You had always known of the saying that the quickest way to a man's heart is through his stomach, but never had you seen it so perfectly embodied than in the person seated on the stool next to yours, who was currently occupied with stuffing his mouth with food. 

As silly as it might have been at the moment, it brought a smile to your face to see him visibly happy at all, no matter how small the source of that happiness was. You didn't know why, but you had this sense that his life was definitely lacking in that feeling. Maybe it was easy to tell because you had the same issue yourself. You knew it was wishful thinking, but you couldn't help but want to help him feel more of that happiness.

Good Hylia, you've only known this guy for nearly a month so far and you were already thinking of ways to help him with his own personal issues. This wasn't what you were supposed to be focusing on, and you knew it. You shook your head to clear your mind. You needed to let go of those kinds of daydreams before you found yourself in a hole too deep to climb out of. 

Once you finished eating, you turned your thoughts to wondering about how he became able to make such good food in the first place. You figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. 

"Link, where did you learn to cook like this?"

He paused from eating his food and turned his head in your direction, but not looking directly at you. He seemed to be thinking. The flames of the small fire in front of you illuminated his still expression. 

"I spent a lot of time traveling by myself out in the wild after I woke up from the shrine of resurrection. I often had to cook for myself using whatever things I could scavenge, and I guess I picked up a knack for it along the way."

You nodded, and hummed in response. He looked as though he wanted to say something else. 

"...Do you like it?" He asked.

"Huh?"

"My cooking."

"Oh! Yeah, I think you're pretty good at it. And... I appreciate it a lot, too. I'm a little overdue in telling you that."

You avoided looking straight at him after you said that, so you didn't see how his eyes widened a bit and his back straightened when he turned his head towards you. He sat there silent in that position for a moment, before blinking a few times and going back to leaning forward with his elbows rested on his knees. 

"It's no problem," he replied. 

For some reason, it made him really glad to hear you say that. 

He noticed that he always seemed to enjoy preparing food more when it was for the both of you rather than just for himself. Now that he thought about it, he had only ever cooked for a handful of people besides himself before, and those instances hadn't been out of pure selflessness. For you, though, it was. It left him with a different feeling. The change in motive behind it -- or rather, lack of motive -- left him more fulfilled. It was enough to know that he was helping you out in a way that didn't have to do with combat. When your whole destiny is centered around you giving the incarnation of evil a sound beating, it can begin to feel like that's all you're good for. Link was constantly trying to refute that feeling, in any way he could. One way just so happened to involve providing the both of you with tasty meals.

After that little exchange, you two sat in silence staring at the fire for some time. Link thought about maybe breaking the quiet, but with what he wasnt sure; so he didn't. You thought about it, too, but felt the lack of conversation wasn't uncomfortable. It usually wasn't, after all. Then, Link got up and stretched before heading inside the inn, ready to retire to bed for the night. You followed shortly after, planning to do the same after nearly nodding off while sitting by the fire. Rest had long awaited you.

***

The second you lay down in bed after changing into your night clothes, you knew you wouldn't exactly be getting a good night's rest just yet. Your mind was too active, despite how worn out you were from being busy the whole day.

Try as you might to divert your thoughts to literally any other topic, you just couldn't help but circle them back to Link every time. It was strange, you thought. Even thinking about him somehow brought you comfort. You thought about how he would sit patiently in the grass, legs folded, while you busied yourself for lengths at a time scribbling down notes into your journal; about how he was greeted eagerly by just about every dog in Hyrule, and how he was glad to see them, too; about how you so often saw him gazing into the horizon with that trademark blank look on his face. You were reluctant to admit it to yourself, but there was no denying the calming effect he had on you when it was just the two of you among a wide expanse of scenery, with all troubles far away.

You realized that you had probably been staring a lot more than you'd previously thought if you've been able to notice all these very specific, yet very subtle details. But, I mean... it's not like there was any harm in it, right? Since that was the case, there should be no need to change that habit for now. Plus, you didn't exactly want to, either.

You turned over on the bed to lay on your side, and stretched out your arm to look at your hand. As you started to fidget with the bedsheet, you began to wish you had something to hold in that hand. Your cheeks felt warm, and your insides light and fuzzy. There was no use in shoving away your longing once you were left alone to reflect by yourself, being kept company solely by your own thoughts.

You figured you could let the issue of your feelings be one for your future self to deal with, for now. You slowly drifted to sleep, with the image of a certain blue-eyed Hylian on the back of your eyelids as unconsciousness overcame you.

Deep down, you knew you were so, so screwed.

***

You awoke with the remnants of a dream still present around you. You remembered being in the middle of a sunny field of tall green grass and dainty wildflowers, lying in the same position you fell asleep in. The gentle notes of a piano song you'd last heard many years ago were playing softly, and Link was sitting across from you. The light breeze tousled his hair, framing the serene look on his face. It felt so refreshing; almost as much as the sight of him in front of you. You remembered him placing his hand in yours; the one you had wished for something to hold in. There was a faint glow about everything, making the world seem hazier.

As your mind slowly entered reality, you found yourself wishing you hadn't woken up so soon. That was... the first time you'd ever had that kind of dream about anyone. It was so pleasant, compared to most others. You sighed. Not only did you have a hard enough time diverting your thoughts from this little crush while conscious, but now you couldn't even escape it while asleep, either! This was just great. Just perfect.

Your thoughts were interrupted by a knock to the door. You were pretty sure it was Link letting you know it was almost time to get going. You snapped out of your previous train of thought and began getting ready for the day.

Upon exiting the stable, you found Link already outside, poking at four baked apples by the fire pit. When he noticed you there, he held out two for you to take. You thanked him for breakfast and tried not to feel awkward while thinking back to your dream as you looked at him. It seemed that as the days went by, it got increasingly harder to ignore what you felt. And it was annoying, damn it! You grumpily took a bite out of your apple.

"Is it burnt or something?"

Link's question snapped you back to reality. "Huh? Oh, no, it's not that. I was just, um... I was just thinking." My, how convincing of you! If you kept the act up at this rate, he was sure to have you figured out sooner or later. You would rather take a nosedive into the Bottomless Swamp than have that happen.

"Are you sure?" The only time link could remember making such a face while eating was when he had to stomach dubious food. Surely he couldn't have screwed up a baked apple that badly, right?

You let out a small laugh. "Yes, I'm sure. Don't worry, not even a bokoblin could mess up one of these, right?" With that, you gave him a lopsided smile. His concern was... kind of cute. Good Hylia, could he be any more of a catch? Ah — there it was again! You mentally slapped yourself for thinking such foolish things. No fawning allowed!

Your grin disappeared as you took another bite, but he wanted to look at it for longer. That smile took up a lot of his mind. He couldn't really explain it. He became so absorbed in thinking about all the smiles he'd seen you give that he zoned out while eating, and was surprised when he found he was finished already.

He promptly stood up and pulled out the map on the Shiekah Slate. You had another long day of work and traveling ahead, and you felt ready to take it on with Link right there by your side. Next, you were headed towards the Great Plateau, after already having finished your business in Hyrule Field. You were honestly looking forward to arriving at your new destination. As for Link, you were never really sure.


	3. Odd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this an airport or a fanfic because this chapter sure has a lotta BAGGAGE! *ba dum tss*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I combined chapters 2 and 3 because I felt they went well together and were too short on their own. I apologize about any comments on ch. 3 that got deleted!

For some reason, the Great Plateau put you seriously on edge. The scenery was beautiful and refreshing, as it was in most of Hyrule, but the feeling of being placed in a setting that still lingered in the past was an eerie one. Being in the midst of the remainders of what existed long ago filled you with so much wistfulness for the loss of what once was. Standing in front of the Temple of Time instilled these emotions into you more than any other ruins you'd seen before ever had. 

'Looking forward to it', your ass. So much for that, I guess.

It was majorly off-putting. If you were so affected by it, you couldn't imagine how Link must have felt in his days after waking up from the Shrine of Resurrection. Seriously, you really couldn't imagine. The guy was quite the mystery, after all. 

You felt a little guilty for bringing him back to revisit the place he was shipped off to after the Calamity wreaked havoc on everything. You couldn't begin to wonder how you'd feel if one day you just woke up from the world's longest, most watery nap without a clue in the world of what's going on and suddenly had the task of saving all of Hyrule dumped onto you. It honestly made you feel kinda bad for him. Seems like the Hero of Hyrule's had it harder than you'd thought, huh? You knew the last thing he'd probably want was your pity. Even still, you couldn't shake your concern. 

Usually, you never made any effort to rush yourself, but you wanted to get your work done here as quickly as possible, both for his sake and your own. It definitely helped that Link practically knew his way around the area like the back of his hand. It made you wonder – just how long did he spend here, completely on his own, knowing nothing about the state of Hyrule outside? Not knowing how much had been recovered, if at all? It had to have been lonely. And worrisome. It must have been. Hell, you had someone accompanying you, and the plateau still made you feel isolated from the rest of the world. 

Thus, the day was a long one. Everything went so much slower than you wished it would. Normally, you didn't pay mind to the passage of time when you were out in the field, but in this instance you just wanted to get this over with soon, out of consideration for both Link and your own nerves. Truth be told, you were mostly occupied with the latter. You could only sympathize for so long before your own needs took over, after all. 

Unfortunately, you were aware that it would have to take more than a week, at the very least, to properly examine all that you needed to in an area this size. You tried your best to hurry up the process, but there was always more to do and more to find. Not only that, but the pressure you put on yourself only served to wear you out twofold by the end of the day.

And here it was, finally – the day's eventual end. Once dusk began to set in, Link had you follow him to an old fire pit under a rock overhang at the base of the path leading to the Shrine of Resurrection. He didn't even pause to think about where to set up camp for the night. He already knew, further confirming your speculations about the time he spent here. To top it all off, the spot was so close to that damn chamber; the one where he woke up from his century-long power nap with his memory completely wiped like a palace maid took a mop and bucket to the inside of his head. Yeah, that was sure to leave him plenty of good feelings associated with this place. 

It weirded you the hell out! What was this feeling called again..? Secondhand emotions? Empathy? Not minding your own business? 

Well, whatever it was, you really quite disliked it.

Link, on the other hand, was having no trouble minding his own. This spot did, in fact, bring back many memories – and with those came emotions. Link was pretty used to suddenly remembering often painful events from his past at this point, but many of them were separated from him by a century or so. Recollecting things from the more recent past... honestly wasn't too different. As with all of them, he shouldered the weight silently, like he had always done. 

They came crashing in waves, one after the other. 

He remembered when he first woke up, exiting the Shrine to take in the scenery of the Hylian wilderness for the first time in 100 years –only for the sight to be marred by the monstrosity surrounding the castle in the distance not long after. 

He remembered first meeting the ghost of King Rhoam in this very spot, whom he had first come to know of as the Old Man. He also remembered encountering him again, this time torch in hand, bluntly stating his intentions for using it when asked. Yeah... telling the late King of Hyrule he was planning to go set shit on fire with a torch wasn't exactly one of his proudest moments. Some hero he must've looked like, huh?

He remembered waking up to Zelda's voice calling out to him. He could still feel the desperation in her pleas. The guilt he had about leaving her alone to fend off Ganon for an entire century still lingered with him, even over a year after he brought her back. 

It was all getting a bit too much to handle for one night. He looked up and rubbed at his eyes, realizing just then that he had been staring straight into the fire for so long that his eyes had trouble adjusting to the dark. He turned to look at you a few feet next to him. Your back was slouched against the wall, also staring dead-on into the fire with your arms crossed over your chest. Guess he wasn't the only one feeling broody tonight.

Now that he thought about it, he wasn't hearing any of the usual afterthoughts and musings you would go on to talk about around this time. It was often the case that you would review your findings of the day, scattering papers around you and making adjustments, occasionally borrowing his Shiekah Slate to look through the compendium or the map. Sometimes you would show him pictures you took just for fun. He would be lying if he said he didn't find it a little endearing. Eventually you would tire yourself out and fall asleep still holding a pen and notebook, and he would lay a blanket over your passed-out body before getting some shut-eye himself. He kind of wished that was the case tonight, too. Anything was better than being stuck reflecting on the past all alone.

So, what was different about tonight? At that moment, running through a list of possibilities seemed like a lot of emotional extortion to him. He was pretty much done with that for the night – hell, for the week. He figured he should at least try to do _something_ about your apparent bad mood. After all, he was trying to get you to be more open, wasn't he? Link could only think of one thing to do, which just so happened to be the first idea that crossed his mind. 

He opened up the Sheikah Slate to the photo album and scrolled to the picture he had in mind. He then moved in closer, so that you were sitting side by side. Wordlessly, he held out the slate in front of you for you to see. 

The image presented to you was of a sleeping red bokoblin with its mouth agape and a snot bubble coming from its snout, zoomed in to the point where its face filled the whole frame. 

You took a second to process. Slowly, a grin spread on your face. Then came out a light chuckle. The more you looked at it, and the funnier it got. Your small laugh turned into full-on cracking up.

"It looks so stupid!" You said through your laughter. "Where did you even take this?" 

Link, too, was wearing a hint of a smile. He liked seeing you light up like that. He was glad that he successfully diverted your attention from whatever was on your mind before. But most of all, he liked that he was the cause of such laughter from you. He felt proud of himself, somehow. He did remember hearing somewhere that laughter is the best medicine. Only now had he seen this truth first-hand.

The mood was successfully lightened. You two stayed like that for the rest of the night, sitting shoulder to shoulder, voices making idle chat just loud enough to be heard over the gentle commotion of nature at night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> link is like "i don't know what communicating my emotions is and at this point I'm too afraid to ask"


	4. Sonatine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rito Village

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, long time no update! Sorry it's been so long! More will be added later. Any comments and constructive criticism would be greatly appreciated!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Rito village had expanded a considerable amount since the last time Link had been there. For one, the inn had grown in size, its layout changing from an open space without privacy to a front desk where you could check in that led to a corridor which branched off into separate huts. They had large patterned curtains for privacy that could be drawn back to enjoy the view and crisp air. In addition to the regular and feather beds, wide hammocks had also been included as a new option. 

Wanting to try something new, you opted for the hammocks with Link's agreement, which were two to a hut. 

The hammocks seemed like a good idea — that was, until you needed to actually get into it. It made sense for the Rito to use them, since flying into one would be no trouble at all. For two legs, though, it was a different story. You kept attempting to get in and teetering back out for a few minutes more than you would have liked to admit – and not to mention, in front of Link, it got more embarrassing the longer it took. You considered just sleeping on the floor. 

"Do you want help?" he asked. 

"Oh, do you know the trick to it? Sure."

Upon your reply, he put one arm across your waist and used the other to lift up your knees. You let out a small yelp, and surprise fell across your face at being held so suddenly like this. He gently set you down into the hammock. While sliding his arms out from under you, your gazes met, faces close enough to send the blood rushing to your face in a split second. Your breath hitched, the moment seeming to linger infinitely... until he backed away, back towards where he would sleep. The sensation of his toned body against your skin remained long after he had gone. 

You pulled the down blanket up to your wide-eyed face, unable to think about anything but the previous occurence for the rest of the night.


End file.
